“Yes, honey?”
“I’m glad I met you. I didn’t think I was ready…for more. With anyone. Not after Chris. But I like you. A lot.” Her words came in bursts, each wave blasting him with more warmth.
“I like you a lot too. Hell, more than a lot, Fern. You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever known.”
“Next to your grandma who raised you and your sister?”
He issued a rough laugh. “She was an amazing woman, and I wouldn’t be who I am now without her input. But you’re different, Fern.”
“You’re different too.”
Crew kept his eyes on the road, foot heavy on the accelerator as he drove toward the woman who was changing everything.
The one making him believe the past didn’t get to own him anymore.
* * * * *
Fern listened to Crew’s voice. Low and deep, a soothing rumble instead of a bellow.
She expected to be treated like an annoyance. Chris would have called her a pain in the ass. Told her how worthless she was, even at something as easy as driving.
But Crew was different. He was concerned for her well-being and her safety. He kept her on the line, talking to her as he closed the miles between them and she waited for his friend to show up.
Even though she expected to see a vehicle approach, her heart still gave a painful lurch when she glanced in the rearview mirror and saw a truck looming behind her.
“Fern, you with me, honey? You should see Upchurch now. He’s driving up to you.”
“I see him.” She managed to force the words past her numb lips.
“Tell me when he pulls up behind you.”
Her eyes started to dry out from holding them so wide as she stared at the mirror. The truck was huge. Were all the Black Heart Ranch trucks that big? They were. She’d seen them in the parking area.
“I think he’s here.”
“Okay, he’s going to get out of the truck now. Describe what he looks like.”
Her vision blurred, then cleared. “Uh…tall. Big shoulders. Shaved head. His hair might be brown. Wearing jeans.”
“Sunglasses?”
“He just took them off.”
“That’s Church. I’m going to let you go for now, Fern. I’ll call after you’ve made contact with him.”
Her stomach wobbled at the thought of Crew breaking their connection, but she trusted him to have her safety in mind.
The man neared her driver’s window, moving slow.
He stopped a few feet away from her car. “Fern? I’m Grant Upchurch. Crew and the guys sent me to help you.”
She didn’t realize she was crying until she felt a tear drip off her chin and land on her hand. His face swam in front of her eyes.
“It’s okay, Fern. I know you must be scared. I won’t come any closer. I’m going to just wait right here with you until Crew arrives.”
Her tears fell faster. She didn’t want to be frightened anymore. If Chris really was the man in that strange truck, then she wanted to make him pay for scaring her. It was time she wrenched free of the iron control he had on her during their relationship, a stronghold she thought she’d shaken.
He wasn’t going to keep her from making a better life.
